Fiberlass or plyester resin?

[halas]

According to my limited knowledge: there are 2 kind of resins out there for boats.
If that is true, which is better for glassing plywood for deck or to glue built-up transom made of plywood?

I also read somewhere that gluvit is basically nothing more than fiberglass resin. Anyone knows more about it?

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Fiberlass or plyester resin?

Gluvit IS NOT fiberglass resin..... it is epoxy resin that has more flex when set up. You have read some bad information.

Read up on Epoxy resin and Polyester resin. Epoxy is stronger, more money and tends to outlast fiberglass.

Either will work on plywood. It depends on wht you are doing over all. Polyester resin will not adhere to epoxy but epoxy will adhere to polyester.

Read through this restoration setion for tons of information.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Fiberlass or plyester resin?

Fiberglass resin is polyester. Other resin is epoxy. I don't know which gluvit is. I would lean towards epoxy for gluing up plywood, but others should probably address what is best for laying up glass.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Fiberlass or plyester resin?

Not to confuse things further, but there are three resins commonly used for boats, and many variants of them for different jobs.

Epoxy is the strongest and most expensive, but will yellow in sunlight

Vinylester is in the middle, it's used for some production boats now but most of them are still made with...

Polyester resin, which is the cheapest and most common resin.


There are different varieties of each... thick epoxy for coating tables and wood, thin laminating epoxy for fiberglass layup. Laminating polyester for layup, gelcoat (poly resin with pigments and additives) to form a nice skin on fiberglass.

Do some reading, what you find out will help you choose the right one for you and learn to use it satisfactorily.

Erik